Crane Hook Church

Built in 1667, Crane Hook Church was located one mile east of here on what is now Pigeon Point Road. The Church took its name from the land located between here and the Delaware River. Under Dutch leadership, this area was colonized by the Swedes and Finnish-Swedes in the early 1660s. The English took control of the Delaware colony in October 1664 and afforded the religious freedom needed to build this Swedish Lutheran church. Built of logs in a blockhouse style, the Church’s projecting second story served as a defensive structure against external threats. Worshipers were primarily Swedes and Finnish-Swedes, but also included people of English, Dutch, Holstein, or German origin. According to a pew list of the congregation from the 1690s, about 50% of the congregants came from New Castle County, 10% from Cecil County Maryland, and 40% came by boat from across the Delaware River in New Jersey. Lars Lock from Sweden was the first pastor of Crane Hook Church. After his death in 1688, the congregation was led by lay reader Charles Springer until the arrival of Erik Björk in 1697. Björk was one of the three Church of Sweden priests sent to America to serve the remaining Swedes on the Delaware River. With the help of the congregation, Björk immediately began planning and constructing Holy Trinity Church (Old Swedes) in Wilmington to replace Crane Hook Church.